My neck and wrists are just as large.
Finally instead of insisting that stretching didn’t work for me, you are confining yourself to saying that it didn’t work for you.
I have always said that trimming produces fast results. Just not the results I want. I want a wide area of gasket contact with low force per square centimeter. And I can get it with stretching, not with trimming.
Because of my success, I really don’t care what seals manufacturers may say. Now, it seems, Kodatat and other garment manufacturers who have experience with seals are saying that stretching can be a good option. Given that the drysuit manufacturers favored trimming for so long, I assume they are changing position only because of clear evidence.
It might have occurred to someone that a customer’s neck and wrist circumference could be accurately measured at the time of the order, and then properly sized gaskets, needing neither stretching nor trimming, could be supplied on the garment. It would cost a little extra…
Yup, all the gaskets…
Neck, rist, and ankle. Worked fine.
Certainly not recommending a change.
You’re doing what worked for you. When stretching doesn’t work at first, it’s probably time to trim the thing and go paddling.
Lack of sufficient response to stretch means switching to a bigger diameter stretching form, and/or more time. Stretching takes weeks. Lots of people don’t have weeks.
Changes of recommendations?
Kokatat has always recommended stretching. Stohlquist and others have always recommended trimming, as have the seal manufacturers. Personally, I don’t care what the suit manufacturers suggest; I’d rather trust the people that make the seals say and do what they recommend.
It would be nice if one could order suits with custom-sized seals. When I repair my girlfriend’s dry suit and tops, I replace them with seals that fit her well enough that they need little or no trimming. Unfortunately, I haven’t found neck or wrist seals large enough that they fit me without trimming.
Trimming worked for me
I trimmed the neck gasket and the ankle gaskets of my Stohlquist drysuit using a sharp pair of scissors. I flattened the gaskets so that I could make a slightly arced cut across. Did not need to stretch them over tube-shaped items at all. The cuts were clean and stayed intact.
Just start small, as you have done. The neck gasket will feel tight even after trimming. If you don’t notice it after paddling a while, that’s good enough. If it still feels too tight, trim another small amount off and paddle with it that way. I trimmed my neck gasket twice before it felt right.